PM accuses Oppn of insulting country, Bihar; he should create 'Apamaan Mantralaya': Priyanka

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, mocking him for accusing opposition leaders of insulting the country and Bihar, and suggesting that he should create an 'Apamaan Mantralaya' (Ministry of Insults). Addressing an election rally at Sonabarsa in Saharsa district, the Congress general secretary said the prime minister often strays from real issues. "Instead of talking about development, and what the NDA has done in the last two decades of rule in Bihar, the prime minister keeps accusing every opposition leader of insulting the nation and the eastern state. He should form a new ministry -- Apamaan Mantralaya -- because that's what his government seems to be most focused on," she quipped. Her remarks came just days after Modi accused the Congress-RJD alliance of "insulting Chhathi Maiyya", having "problems with the Ram temple in Ayodhya" and "protecting infiltrators" for appeasement politics.

Vadra accused the prime minister of focusing on political rhetoric rather than real problems of the state. She said that the Bihar government was being "remote-controlled from Delhi" and alleged that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had been reduced to a figurehead. "It is the prime minister and people at the Centre who are running the show," she claimed. Cautioning voters against pre-poll promises, Vadra urged them not to be influenced by cash incentives or temporary benefits. "Take the Rs 10,000 they give you before the elections -- it's your money -- but don't give them your vote," she said, drawing cheers from the crowd. She reminded the audience that the right to vote was central to India's democracy, warning that the NDA was attempting to undermine it. The Congress leader alleged that under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, "lakhs of votes have been slashed" across Bihar.n"The NDA is snatching the right to vote," she alleged, adding that the people of Bihar "will not tolerate such injustice". "They have removed lakhs of people from the voter list. This is not just about elections; this is about your rights. Losing your vote means losing your citizenship. This is a big conspiracy to weaken you," she said on the deletion of names during SIR.

Turning to governance and development, Vadra said the BJP-led alliance had little to show for its 20 years in power in the state. She accused the ruling coalition of neglecting industrial growth and creating conditions that forced Bihar's youth to migrate in search of jobs. "After running the government for 20 years, they now say they will provide employment. So why haven't they done it until now?" she asked. Taking a swipe at BJP's top leadership, the Congress leader said Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were "obsessed with either the past or the distant future" but failed to address the people's present-day hardships. She claimed Bihar has suffered "rampant unemployment, migration, and closure of public sector industries handed over to corporate cronies", a legacy of two decades of NDA rule.